The school buildings had been torn down a year ago. Flattened. Cleared. Wiped out. All to make way for something modern. Something glassy. Something that probably has air conditioning that actually works. Where our school hall once stood, there is now another building. Where we once stood nervously waiting for…
Robert Clements is a journalist and newspaper columnist. With an estimated 6 million readership, his column, Bob’s Banter is published in over 30 newspapers and magazines in nearly every state in India, as well as in the top newspapers of Bangladesh, London and Dubai and is also translated into Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu.
Unfurling and Hoisting the Flag..!
There is a brand-new national pastime that has quietly overtaken cricket, it is the sacred art of correcting someone who says the wrong word on the wrong day. “You do not hoist the flag on Republic Day,” someone declares importantly.“You unfurl it.” Another voice booms back.“And on Independence Day you…
Bleak…!
Bleak is one of those words that does not rush at you. It sits. It lingers. It looks around the room and makes itself comfortable. It does not scream like terror or shout like anger. It simply lowers the lights and waits. Bleak is not pitch dark. If it were,…
The Silent Piano..!
At home my piano is a silent one. It stands there in the sitting room, polished, upright, respectable. Visitors notice it immediately. They nod approvingly and say things like old world charm, classic taste, elegance. The piano accepts the compliments quietly, knowing full well that admiration without use is a…
Carrying More, or Less..!
Few things make a traveller more anxious than a half open suitcase. You stand there staring at it as if it might answer back. Have I packed too little or have I packed too much? Do I really need three shirts for two days or will two shirts bravely manage…
Simply Rename..!
The guardian minister for Mumbai recently visited King Edward Memorial Hospital, lovingly and universally known as KEM. A place where people go because they are ill, worried, frightened, and hoping that someone in authority has thought about things like beds, doctors, medicines, and queues that move faster than a funeral…
Wrong Questions, Wrong Solutions..!
The municipal elections in Mumbai are over, the banners have been taken down, the loudspeakers have finally fallen silent, and the city has returned to its favourite sport: complaining. I am part of a WhatsApp group of reasonably educated, well read, English speaking citizens who proudly discuss world affairs, stock…
From Politicians to Statesmen..!
Winning elections is exhilarating. Slogans work, crowds cheer, numbers add up, and victory music is played. It is a moment when every politician feels ten feet tall and slightly immortal. But once the fireworks fade and the garlands wilt, something far more serious quietly takes the stage. Power has been…
Why Only Greenland?
The courtroom of the International Court of Justice was unusually quiet that morning. Even the translators had stopped whispering into their microphones. The judge adjusted his glasses and looked down at the file, then up at the two Indian lawyers standing confidently before him. “You have filed a case of…
Herding Corporators into a Resort..!
There is something profoundly touching about the sight of elected representatives being escorted to a luxury resort, not for a holiday, not for reflection, but for safekeeping. It is democracy wrapped in room service. The people voted. The results came in. And immediately thereafter, the Shiv Sena winners from Shinde’s…
Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.